Thanks.  I'm getting tired of 20 ft long TI84 cables under the table.

Joey Buzzsaw:

But is it likely we'll see it later? The Zune can already stream to the Xbox 360 so it doesn't seem like it'd be difficult to get it to work. And while wireless sync can't run at the same time as a game, that wasn't my question. My question would be if developers could get a copy of the stack which allows for wireless sync to modify and implement to allow a wireless access point to act as a "middleman" to two Zune users in very different locations, for example, while I'm in Connecticut, I could send a copy of my program to a friend living in New York, and both of us could play the same game as if we were in the same room (sans real-time communication, of course).

That would be up to the Zune team, but there are no plans for this now. The Zune only streams to the Xbox 360 via the USB sync cable and not over wireless.

Would we be able to send games wirelessly (i.e. sync games to our personal zune and distribute them wirelessly)

drew65949:

Would we be able to send games wirelessly (i.e. sync games to our personal zune and distribute them wirelessly)

Please read the FAQ before asking questions:

Q: Can I transmit the game to another Zune device wirelessly?

A: No, you must deploy the game to your Zune through your device connection on your PC, using XNA Game Studio 3.0 to deploy.

Let me restate: Would it be against some future EULA to distribute a program to wirelessly recieve more programs as if sending and recieving game data, just as .exe (or whatever) data?

drew65949:

Let me restate: Would it be against some future EULA to distribute a program to wirelessly recieve more programs as if sending and recieving game data, just as .exe (or whatever) data?

As you said it.... you're asking about a FUTURE EULA. At this time, I suppose the lawyes are probably working on it (the EULA), so we won't know the details at least until the beta launches.

True.  Probably shouldn't have posted about that.  (Might give the ikle lawers ideas)

Just want to pop in and say I am enjoying this thread. Every so often I check it out. I am  looking forward to the webcast for sure.  Oh yeah and try to get a game on the Zune 30 too for the webcast, that would be cool. :)

Thanks! Yea, We can show games running on a Zune 30 in the webcast for sure.

Will people that cannot program their own games be able to have games on their zunes without paying the 100 dollars per year?

Hi, I was wondering what access the user has to the Zune controls? Can users use the play/pause button in-game? How about the back button? (besides holding it back, which you mentioned instantly quit?) And last but not least, is there any control over the hold button? Thanks!

Will this work on the older zune.  I bough a zune right when it came out.  Will these game work with the older ones?

Nico:

Will this work on the older zune.  I bough a zune right when it came out.  Will these game work with the older ones?

It'll work on all zunes!
But if you have a game that uses the touchpad, you won't be able to play it on your Zune 30.

Rockman87:

Will people that cannot program their own games be able to have games on their zunes without paying the 100 dollars per year?

 

What you're seeing is the start of Zune games programming, and this is intended only for developers at this point.

The commercial (and might I add, probably free) version won't be out for probably another year or so, assuming that in 3.0 they add in the developer features, and then by 4.0 they solidify the distribution model and make it available for end-users.

Also, if you're a developer and a college student, look up "DreamSpark", a new college program that was started, and gives students a free 1 year subscription to XNA Creators Club. :)

Though I actually don't think it requires the subscription from what I remember reading in the FAQ.

Correct, No membership is required to develop games from the Zune.

happyface:

Hi, I was wondering what access the user has to the Zune controls? Can users use the play/pause button in-game? How about the back button? (besides holding it back, which you mentioned instantly quit?) And last but not least, is there any control over the hold button? Thanks!

Yes, you can access the Play/Pause button. You don't get acess to the hold switch other that it sets the IsActive bool in your game, so if a user hits the hold switch your game will pause etc.

 

 

I'm also wondering, can we sell games that we make for the Zune?

I'd like to hope so!

A couple of quick questions:

- hardware-wise, does the Zune have a floating-point co-processor? If not, I assume doing any sort of float math on a frame-to-frame basis is a bad idea, eh? :)

- In the Zauri video, maybe it's just me, but I thought the explosions had alpha, and were perhaps being scaled. This seems too good to be true. :)  Can we rotate/scale/alpha sprites, and are those hardware accelerated operations or not?

- And more generally, what's performance like? How many sprites can I throw on a screen while maintaining 60 fps?

Cheers,


Mo

Mo:

A couple of quick questions:

- hardware-wise, does the Zune have a floating-point co-processor? If not, I assume doing any sort of float math on a frame-to-frame basis is a bad idea, eh? :)

- In the Zauri video, maybe it's just me, but I thought the explosions had alpha, and were perhaps being scaled. This seems too good to be true. :)  Can we rotate/scale/alpha sprites, and are those hardware accelerated operations or not?

- And more generally, what's performance like? How many sprites can I throw on a screen while maintaining 60 fps?

Cheers,


Mo

Yes, The Zune has an FPU. Though keep in mind that super CPU intensive stuff (really good physics and such) are going to strain the processor on the Zune.

Yes, You can alpha blend and scale sprites. It's all software though.

We're still working on perf so it's hard to lock down a number, it also is going to completely vary depending on what size and what your doing with the sprites. Zauri has quite a few things on screen at once and seems to run very well. But this is something we're always trying to improve.

 

When are we going to have that webcast? ;)

i have a question. Is there anyway that people might be able to try and sell their zune games on the Zune marketplace?

Are there plans for the API to allow adjusting the playback speed/pitch? Will software audio effects be possible (CPU power not withstanding)?

Thanks

Its kind of like programming a game to be played by a single analog thumbstick when you really think about it. I mean if what I've heard about the Zune having both a touch button in the midst of the ring circle used for direction keys. Then the analog thumbsticks' analog button is equivalent to the touch button and the dpad ring is the equivalent to the 8 directions of movement that the analog thumbstick has. You press in your thumbstick you get an action or a second set of skills at your disposal. you press in the touch button and... The only thing that limits this comparison is the lack of intermediate range the thumbstick has 1000 values by 8 degrees for a total of 8,000 values of precision but the dpad? not so much. Is there any work aroun for this? If say an idea came about to take advantage of this very functionality?

OK my only question, is XNA 3.0 availble for download yet?

benlahue752:

OK my only question, is XNA 3.0 availble for download yet?

No. If you had read the FAQ it mentions that 3.0 is going to be released in the "Holiday 2008" time frame which generally means the time around November and December.